Stripping of bobbins



Dec. 29, 1953 H. EWING STRIPPING OF BOBBINS Filed April 8, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I.

ATTORNEYS Dec. 29, 1953 H wmg 2,663,926

STRIPPING 0F BOBBINS Filed April 8, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2.

FIG. 3. "2827 29 32 34 Patented Dec. 29, 1953 STRIPPING' F BOBBINS Henry Ewing, spondon, near Derby,

signor to British Gel tion of Great Britain.

England, as-

anese Limited, a corpora;-

Application April 8, 1952, Serial No. 281,206

Claims priority, application Great Britain April 13, 1951 11 Claims.

This invention relates to the stripping of bobbins and, more specifically, to an apparatus for stripping waste yarn off flanged bobbins.

Waste yarn on a bobbin that remains as a residue at the end of a textile operation, or that is rejected as defective for some reason, must be stripped from the bobbin before the bobbin can be used again. Stripping can be done by backwinding, but this is a slow and expensive operation and it is preferable, if the nature of the bobbin permits, to strip the bobbin by cutting the yarn from it. Hand cutting by means of a knife calls for a certain degree of manual dexterity, which is apt to diminish, even with an experienced operator, as he becomes fatigued, and this is liable to result in accidental injuries. Moreover, the bobbins also are liable to be cut or scratched, and to need reconditioning by buffing and waxing operations which not only are expensivebut also tend, inconrse of time,to iropart to the bobbins so irregular a shape that they become useless.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus for stripping the, waste ro r m fl bb n by t t e he w r tion of which is more rapid than hand cutting, less dependent on manual dexterity, and less liabl to injurethe operator or damage the bobbin.

Accordingto this'invention anapparatus for cutting waste yarn from flanged bobbins conj prises a pair of flange-engaging blades for cut ting ya'rnnom a bobbinin the neighbourhood of.

the flanges, anintern' ediate blade adapted to cooperate withthe s'aid flange-engagingblades and to cut yarn from the bobbin between the' flanges,.

andmeans' for oscillating said intermediatelblade lengthwise of the "bobbin flange-engaging blades.

The flangeengaaing blades may have flat outer edges which engage the flanges of the bobbin without risk of'damaging them, these edges meeting the sharpened 'inneredgesof the bladesat an angle so as to form points which can EH'ZIEITbQ'r tween the flanges and the yarn a'd acent tothe flanges The blades can be pivotally mounted, and spring-urged outwards, away from one and relatively to said another, so that their flatfedges and their points closely engage the inner surfaces of'the flanges as the bobbin is pressed into engagement.

The intermediate reciprocating blade is con veniently-inthe form of a rectangular plate, with one long edge. sharpened and lying parallel to the axis' of the bobbin tobe stripped; It is preferably mounted in overlapping contact with the flange-engaging blades, its end edges being suitedge parallel to the axis of the bobbin, is "more" acutely sharpened to engage and sever the yarn along the whole length of the'bobbin barrel by reason of its reciprocating, slicing action. 'By' adjusting the position of theblade so thatthe" points of the flange-engaging blades project just beyond the line of its long edg'e, this edge can be held just clear of the bobbin so as to out the innermost layer of yarn thereon without scoring the barrel or blunting the blade by en'gagement therewith. The points dig slightly into the surface of the barrel, but"without'substantially'darn aging it as by a score or scratch. For the purpose of feeding bobbins to the blades of the apparatus, a storage chute can be provided, adapted to serve as a magazine forbobbins and to guide the bobbins accurately and iri'sucicession to a position above 'the"blades", fro1n which they can be pressed into engagement" with the blades. In this position the bobbin belo' cated by a resilientlymo u'n'ted cradle, which yields) as the bobbin is pressed'dow'n andaiitornatica'lly raises the stripped bobbin clear of the bladeswh'en 1 it is released. A pressing element, preferably" foot-operated, canbe provided to press the bob bin down, and may be combined with forwarding means which, when the pressing mean-s1 ar re f leased after the stripping of theb'obbin, urge the next bobbin into positioh'sothat it displaces the stripped bobbin" into a suitably'di'sposed receive-1:1 By the use of suitably shaped and mounted flailgefl engaging blades, the apparatus can be readily adapted for the stripping of many differenttypes of bobbin, whether with flanges having plane inlner surfaces, or slightly 'coned inner surfaces, or with one fiangeplane and the otherslightlyl coned. By' way of example one formof apparatus ac cording to this invention, adapted for the strip pingof bobbins of the type last mentionedwill novv'be' described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which! i Fig. 1' is a perspective view of ang appa'ratus,

for stripping waste yarn off flanged bobbins.

Fig. 2 is a section 1 side elevation of'th'e ap operator the apparatus is mounted on a table H. Two front upright members I: and two rear upright members I 3 are bolted to the top of table H and, in conjunction with two horizontal side members l4 and two oblique bracing members 15 form a supporting framework. In the lower part of the framework are mounted a back plate 16 and a front cover plate l1.

The back plate l5 pivotally supports a pair of upwardly extending flange-engaging blades l3, I9, each in a separate vertical groove 25 in the back plate IS, the grooves 20 being out to a depth such that the forward faces of the blades l8, [9 are level with the forward face of the back plate 16. The blades l8, !9 are loaded by a spring 2!, supported on a rod 22, so as to be urged away from each other. The outer edge 23 of each blade is smooth and flat, for safe engagement with the inner surfaces of the flanges 24, 25 of a bobbin 26, and the inner edge 21 is sharpened by being bevelled on the rear face to a blunt angle suitable for exerting a, scissor-like shearing action. The sharpened inner edges 21 meet the flat outer ed es 23 at an acute angle so as to form points 28. These points 28, in the outermost position of the blades i 8, 19, are separated by the distance between the inner faces of the flanges 24,25 of the bobbin 26 at the edges of the flanges, so that the points 28 engage the flanges 24, 25 as the bobbin 26 descends on to them, and enter between each of the flanges 24, 25 and the yarn wound on the bobbin 25. In this outermost position. the smooth outer edge 23 of one blade i8 is at, right-angles to the axis of the bobbin 26 so as to engage the flange 24 which has a plane inner surface, while that of the other blade 18 is inclined sli htly inwards to match the conicity of the other flange 25. The blade 18 may be replaced by a blade like the blade I9, or vice versa, for stripping waste yarn off bobbins having either two conical flanges 25 or two plane flanges 24.

The front cover plate I1 is mounted parallel to the back plate l6 and spaced from it by a, distance slightly greater than the thickness of an intermediate blade 29 which is disposed between them. The front cover plate 11 is secured to the back plate [6 by bolts 30 passing through vertical slots 3] in the front cover plate l1. The intermediate blade 29 is rectangular and is sharpened along its upper edge 32. It is mounted in face contact with the flange-engaging blades I8,

I9 so that its short terminal edges 33, which are sharpened to a blunt angle, can co-act with the inner edges 21 of theflange-engaging blades l8, I9 in scissor fashion. The intermediate blade 29 is bolted to a carrier plate 34 which is supported on rollers 35, 36 and 31 with ball-bearing mountings whose stationary spindles 38 are eccentrically mounted in the back plate iii. The carrier plate 34, and the intermediate blade 23 which it carries, are reciprocated lengthwise by a pivoted link connection 39 driven by an eccentric pin 46 on the end of a rotating shaft 4i. The carrier plate 34 moves in light frictional engagement with spring-loaded balls 42 let into recesses in the back surface of the front cover plate l1. Two rollers 43 are mounted on the carrier plate 34 and engage beneath the lower edge 44 of the front cover plate 11 so as to prevent the intermediate blade 29 from rising. By turning the eccentric spindles 38 of the ball-bearing rollers 35, 36 and 31, the height of the intermediate blade 29 can be adjusted, both initially and to allow for subsequent wear on sharpening, so that the upper edge 32 is just below the points 28 of the flange-engaging blades "3, 19. The vertical slots 3| allow the height of the front cover plate l1 to be correspondingly adjusted so that the two rollers 43 on the blade-carrier plate 34 engage the lower edge 44.

Above the blades i8, i9 and 29 is a resiliently mounted cradle which supports each bobbin 28 during stripping. The cradle comprises two forwardly projecting fingers 45, each of which supports one of the flanges 24, 25 of a bobbin 25 so as to leave the barrel exposed below, and passes outside the flange-engaging blades l8, 19.

Behind the back plate [6 and descending obliquely to the level of the cradle fingers 45 is mounted a chute comprising two parallel spaced angle irons 49. The bobbins 41 awaiting stripping rest upon the chute which thus serves also as a magazine. The leading bobbin 41 on the chute is propelled by the weight of those behind into engagement with a pair of star wheels 43 mounted for rotation in a pair of brackets 49 above the blade assembly, the accidental rotation of the wheels 48 being prevented by the friction of their mounting.

The brackets 49 also support a cross member 59 on which is slidably mounted a plunger 56 which is movable downwards against the action of a pair of springs 5|. The lower end of the plunger 59 carries a member 52 of inverted channel section for engagement with the barrel of the bobbin 25, some play being provided in the connection between the plunger 59 and the channel 52 to accommodate the conicity of the yarn winding, if any.

The feeding and pressing down of the bobbins 28 is effected by the working of a horizontal shaft 53 mounted at the top of the apparatus and parallel to the intermediate blade 29 on a pair of uprights 54 standing on the table I I. A foot pedal 55 at the base of the table 1 E on which the apparatus stands is connected through a helical 7 spring 56 to an arm 51 on the shaft 53, the spring 56 limiting the force that can be applied to the arm 51.

A bearing roller 58 mounted on a second arm 59 projecting from the shaft 53 depresses the scissor-like action at the ends of the bobbin barrel and a slicing action at the centre. The points 28 of the flange-engaging blades l8, l9 dig slightly into the barrel of the bobbin 26, and prevent the barrel from being pressed into cutting engagement with the intermediate blade 29. A'

counterweight 6! is attached to the end of the arm 51 and serves to assist the springs 5| and 50 in the return of the horizontal shaft 53 to its original position following a bobbin stripping operation.

The two star wheels 48 each have four radially extending arms 62, and four corresponding axially projecting pins 53 on the inner facesof their bosses. The pins 63 are engaged by pivoted hooks 64 depending from a pair of further arms 65 which project from the horizontal rocking shaft 53. As the shaft 53 is rocked on depression of the foot pedal 55 the hooks 64 descend, and are urged by light springs 66 against the pins 63. When the pedal is released and the shaft 53 resumes its former position the hooks 64 engage and draw the pins 63 upwards, so that the star Wheels are rotated through a quarter of a turn against the frictional resistance of their mounting. This rotation displaces the stripped bobbin 26 and allows the next following bobbin 4'! to move down into stripping position. The stripped bobbins 26 are collected at the front of the apparatus and returned to the pin board, or other container from which they were withdrawn to be placed on the chute 46.

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for cutting waste yarn from flanged bobbins said apparatus comprising a pair of flange-engaging blades for cutting yarn from a bobbin in the neighbourhood of the flanges, an intermediate blade adapted to co-operate with said flange-engaging blades and to cut yarn from said bobbin between the flanges, and means for oscillating said intermediate blade lengthwise of the bobbin and relatively to said flange-engaging blades.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the flange-engaging blades have sharpened inner edges and fiat outer edges which meet said inner edges at an angle so as to form points.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the flange-engaging blades are pivotally mounted and spring-urged outwards away from one another.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the intermediate blade has one long edge sharpened and lying substantiall parallel to the barrel of the bobbin.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4 in which the intermediate blade is mounted in overlapping contact with the flange-engaging blades, the end edges of said intermediate blade being suitably sharpened so as to co-operate in a scissor action with the inner edges of said flange-engaging blades.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5 in which the position of the intermediate blade can be adjusted so that the points of the flange-engag- 7 ing blades project just beyond its long edge.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a resiliently mounted cradle adapted to locate a bobbin above the blades, to yield as the bobbin is pressed down on to said blades and to raise the stripped bobbin clear of said blades.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a pressing element adapted to press the bobbin downwards into contact with the blades.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8 in which the I pressing element comprises an upwardly spring-urged plunger adapted to engage the barrel of a bobbin, and means for lowering said plunger so as to press the bobbin downwards.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1 comprising bobbin-forwarding means adapted, after the stripping of a bobbin, to urge the next bobbin into position so that it displaces the stripped bobbin.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10' comprising an upwardly spring-urged plunger adapted to engage the barrel of a bobbin, means for lowering said plunger so as to press the bobbin downwards into contact with the blades, and means for actuating the forwarding means in timed relationship with the lowering of said plunger.

HENRY EWING.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,631,920 Crossland June 7, 1927 2,262,101 Harris Nov. 11, 1941 2,443,002 Gitfin June 8, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 421,009 Great Britain Dec. 12, 1934 

